10 Second Anime - Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Episode 11

Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Episode 11

The Magic Schools Competition begins. Tatsuya meets his old military buddies. Mayumi flirts. The seniors dominate.

Heh.

Even Honoka knows that Tatsuya's half-smile means he's laughing. And Tatsuya still is clueless about girls wanting his attention.

Is this tournament "Goodwill Games" or war games? With Tatsuya's old military buddies calling him by his old cover and wanting to hang out, this competition seems to be more like the NFL Combine, where they're scouting talent and new spells. They make a point that Tatsuya can't use many of his own techniques because they're classified military secrets, and that nobody knows he's "Silver" as well. They all seem to be a little of jealous of his "retirement."

I like how this show uses old-school segues to let you know the mood is changing by shifting the music to one of its many themes. You've got the "let's explain funny personality quirks to clueless Tatsuya" theme, the "Miyuki goes into uber bro con mode" funny theme, the "watch this BAMF BAMF things up" pulsing beat theme, and even the "here's how magical science works in this world" theme. If you just rely on visuals and dialogue, you're going to think this show is oddly paced. I always listen to the music to let me know what's going to happen next.

Speaking of bro con.

Always good for a chuckle. Yes Miyuki, you are more important to your big brother than some little toy prototype he's working on. Of course, this little toy is going to end up being very important later on in the show.

Mayumi is a big old flirt. She missed bus trip time with teasing Tatsuya, but she makes up for it while he calibrates her equipment.

Squee! Even the pouty "hold my hand" face! And nice tennis outfit as you hold a handgun shaped CAD to shoot the ball over the net. Mayumi really is the Elfin Sniper. She will shoot you right through the heart!

Hmm.

We've got a bit of foreshadowing going on as the games begin. Mikihiko's spirit based magic appears to use too many extraneous elements in its spell design, which is something that only Tatsuya could notice and dissect. Also, according to Mizuki, heat seems to tire people out who use that kind of magic, as she explains that she's fine in the stands because of her special glasses. Mikihiko may be due for a power-up before too long.

We've also got some hints of interpersonal conflict coming. Erika hints that she's seen too much of Mari's overbearing personality. I guess you could describe it as haughty, but the charitable interpretation would be self-confident. And we've got an engineer in Izumi who might be overworked and not calibrating the equipment properly. At the very least, she doesn't look like she's having any fun.

Meanwhile, the military confirmed that the three guys Mikihiko and Tatsuya captured were indeed part of that Hong Kong gang. Maybe Tatsuya's little toy is going to be useful in whatever they end up plotting against the games.

Finally, the managers for the 1st School are worried about how they're actually doing in the tournament. They're leading at the moment, but some of their team members aren't doing that great in adding to their point totals for the overall events. One event seemed to be worth many more points than the others, so now they have to worry about winning more of the other events. Some extra stress and adversity is probably going to get Tatsuya into the games. But, of course. Our lead BAMF can't go through the whole tournament without getting his BAMF on.